We just finished our first session of Wilderness First Aid this weekend.

We started with teaching BLS to the 5 that had signed up for it. They did great and went through adult, child and infant CPR and choking. They also learned to use an AED.

Then Wilderness First Aid started. We had 5 instructors for the 17 taking the class. Lots of great discussions. They loved all the breakout sessions and the hands on.

We added 2 new sessions this year. One was on Mental Health in the Wilderness.

The other was marine Bites and Stings for those going to SeaBase.

It was a lot of fun and great reviews.

Many more ideas for the next session.

Troop 55 High Adventure continues to move forward.

We have 20 people going to the Bahamas for a SeaBase High Adventure in March. Today, 7 of them completed their “Blue Swimmer” test. 3 will do it in Dubuque and the other 10 will complete in February when we do our Swimming Merit Badge.

We have a few opening for 2027 OKPIK. We have an Ice stay on the lakes and a cabin stay adventure available. Room in both adventures to date.

In June 2027, we will be going to Bechtal Summit. We have 2 crews going. One is doing the White Water adventure and the other is doing the Summit experience. There is still room in both treks for a few more people. Looks to be a great time no matter which adventure you pick!

We have a lot of fun activities coming up.

Some of us will be at the National Jamboree this summer.

In March, 20 of our Troop will be in the Bahamas on the tall ship for Sea Base.

In June, 2027, about 30 of us will be at Bechtal Summit for the Summit Experience or the white Water experience. Shoud be a great time!

January, 2027, we will have an ice stay and a cabin stay at OKPIK again. Always a fun time.

Looking forward to Philmont in 2028.

Troop 55’s High Adventure program remains in great shape!

It has been a busy month for Troop 55!

We had 18 scouts and adults go to OKPIK for winter camping. They had an amazing experience camping in subzero weather.

We submitted out 2025 Philmont trek preferences. We will find out net month what trek we get. Awesome job by the scouts filling out the survey and then selecting and ranking the treks.

In 2026, we will be at SeaBase in the Bahamas on the Tall Ship! We tried to get that 2 years ago and failed. We are super excited to have all our scouts and adults on one ship.

More to come . . .

Our High Adventure plans are getting finalized.

We have a full crew headed to Philmont this summer.

2 crews headed to OKPIK for winter camping in January. 1 lake stay and 1 cabin stay.

1 crew headed to Philmont in 2025.

Plans for another SeaBase trip in 2026.

So many fun things ahead for our scouts (and adults).

Liz has started a survey to see what the scouts and scouters want to do in the next few years. We have a full crew headed to Philmont in 2024. Hoping for OKPIK in 2025. Looking at SeaBase and Summit Bechtel for 2025 and 2026. Just have to decide where they fit. Looks like a LOT of fun coming up in the next few years.

We have had a very strong High Adventure Program in our Troop over the years, and it’s good to see it is in good hands with Liz.

Liz has taken over our High Adventure program and it is in good hands. We are formulating a plan for future Philmont treks, OKPIK, SeaBase and Bechtel Summit adventures over the next few years.